IDAHO COMMISSION RECOMMENDS INCREASING SNF STORAGE AT INL, RETHINKING CALCINE

In final recommendations released yesterday, the Idaho Leadership in Nuclear Energy (LINE) Commission wrote that the state should consider allowing the Idaho National Lab to store additional quantities of spent fuel for research purposes, and should reconsider the agreement with the Department of Energy to remove calcine wastes from INL by 2035. The state made an agreement in 2011 that imposed small research quantity limits on spent fuel. The LINE Commission wrote that, with that limit in place, they believe INL’s “long-term viability would be significantly harmed by an inability to acquire appropriate and necessary research materials.” Idaho Governor Butch Otter said in a statement yesterday that he “concur[s] wholeheartedly with the Commission’s assessment that the Idaho National Laboratory is a significant state asset. The State of Idaho should take immediate and long-term steps to enhance the future of the nation’s lead nuclear research and development laboratory that is responsible for over 24,000 jobs and has an annual economic impact on Idaho of more than $3.5 billion.”

Calcine, radioactive waste from spent fuel reprocessing that has been solidified and volume-reduced, is currently being stored at INL in 43 stainless steel bins. Currently the state has an agreement with DOE to remove all high-level nuclear waste and spent leave the state by 2035. However, as the DOE recently released a strategy that does not hope to begin operations at a high-level waste repository until 2048, it’s unlikely the Department will meet that deadline, the LINE Commission wrote. And, “calcine waste is stable in its current state,” the commission said. “The state should be open to alternative approaches for the calcine; this could include the possibility of keeping the calcine in its current, safe storage configuration so long as any change in plans brought commensurate value to the state of Idaho, such as redirecting the funds saved to other INL projects.”